frightened; frightening
ˈfrī-tᵊn-iŋ 
ˈfrīt-niŋ
1
: to make afraid : terrify
The movie scene frightened the child.
2
: to drive or force by frightening
frightened the boy into confessing
: to become frightened
She doesn't frighten easily.
Synonyms
Examples of frighten in a Sentence
The story really frightened me.
The child was badly frightened by the mask.
Recent Examples on the Web
They’ve been observed carrying venomous Portuguese man o’ war tentacles when hunting and use scare tactics to frighten and trick prey.
—
Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
Twenty-four years of lawsuits and untold billions of dollars later, major mold myths continue to frighten residents and cause exaggerated repairs and unnecessary conflict.
—Kelly G. Richardson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Mar. 2024
Adams, 39, wants his conviction thrown out based on Autry's latest statements about the case that grabbed national headlines and frightened residents of Bobo's quiet west Tennessee hometown of Parsons, about 120 miles east of Memphis.
—CBS News, 28 Feb. 2024
What happened in the apple orchard that so frightened the children?
—Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
But the sounds of gunfire still send the Blackwells’ frightened son crawling into their bed at night.
—Ashley R. Williams, CNN, 31 Mar. 2024
Mold tests mainly serve to unnecessarily frighten the home’s occupants with disembodied meaningless spore counts.
—Kelly G. Richardson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Mar. 2024
In the days after October 7, the writer and translator Joanna Chen spoke with a neighbor in Israel whose children were frightened by the constant sound of warplanes.
—Phil Klay, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2024
Charlotte Cowles shared how scammers pretending to be from Amazon, the Federal Trade Commission and the Central Intelligence Agency frightened her so badly that all her usual skepticism was overruled.
—Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 21 Feb. 2024
Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
Twenty-four years of lawsuits and untold billions of dollars later, major mold myths continue to frighten residents and cause exaggerated repairs and unnecessary conflict.
—Kelly G. Richardson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Mar. 2024
Adams, 39, wants his conviction thrown out based on Autry's latest statements about the case that grabbed national headlines and frightened residents of Bobo's quiet west Tennessee hometown of Parsons, about 120 miles east of Memphis.
—CBS News, 28 Feb. 2024
What happened in the apple orchard that so frightened the children?
—Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
But the sounds of gunfire still send the Blackwells’ frightened son crawling into their bed at night.
—Ashley R. Williams, CNN, 31 Mar. 2024
Mold tests mainly serve to unnecessarily frighten the home’s occupants with disembodied meaningless spore counts.
—Kelly G. Richardson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Mar. 2024
In the days after October 7, the writer and translator Joanna Chen spoke with a neighbor in Israel whose children were frightened by the constant sound of warplanes.
—Phil Klay, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2024
Charlotte Cowles shared how scammers pretending to be from Amazon, the Federal Trade Commission and the Central Intelligence Agency frightened her so badly that all her usual skepticism was overruled.
—Michelle Singletary, Washington Post, 21 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'frighten.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near frighten
Cite this Entry
“Frighten.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/frighten. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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